Split Second DLC – Survival of the Rock

17. Oct, 2010

Split Second was released earlier this past Summer at a time when gamers were overwhelmed with top quality racing games. It faced some stiff competition with the likes of ModNation Racers and Blur. These 3 games were released within weeks of each other and all obtained an appropriate amount of high praise and top reviews. From what I can recollect, of the three Split Second was also provided the least amount of marketing value but it was also the first of these titles that I opted to buy. Of course they all eventually wound up on my gaming shelf but there was something about Split Second that grabbed my attention, kept me interested and, literally, on the edge of my seat from beginning to end.

Sales for Split Second appeared to hit a decent mark for the publisher; enough so that I would have expected substantially more downloadable content in the weeks that followed its release than what its devout followers were actually given. Sure, a few extra cars here and there is always nice but I’m more of a meat-n-potatoes kinda guy and would rather have my dessert served after the main course. In other words, where were the add-on tracks and cliffhanger episodes?

Last week Black Rock Studio released Survival of the Rock DLC. It’s not necessarily the Prime Cut of downloadable content but it may just satiate your Split Second racing needs until the main course is served. What’s included, well, unfortunately not much. Players will receive a new Minepit Track and an additional Survival Racing mode. Those who have played Split Second already should be intimately familiar with the fast paced and high anxiety survival mode as it pits racers against the clock, against other drivers and against an onslaught of semi trucks dumping explosive barrels out their back end. Your goal is to pass as many of these semi trucks as quickly as you can while avoiding these barrels of destruction.

Although this may sound somewhat easy to the experienced racer there is a fair amount of chaos on screen throughout the entirety of each race. How you manage your speed and when you choose to leave the others in your dust is a tactic that requires patience, skill and practice.

Although the DLC represents an entirely new track for Split Second fans I, as one of those dedicated fans, was obviously hoping for quite a bit more. Thankfully, Black Rock Studio has already announced additional DLC for the future. Here’s taste of what’s to come:

The Deadline Pack
– Deadline Mode – Players can drift and pick up items that freeze a countdown clock.
– New vehicles

My interest continues to be piqued with this forthcoming content and my expectations are that these will possibly be coming sooner rather than later. However, after playing this most recent DLC and attempting some online racing only to find the public matches barren of players, I have to ask if Survival of the Rock and any follow-up DLC is just too little and far too late. Have racing fans moved on to bigger and better or will this be enough to set the tracks of Split Second on fire once again?